Funerals and Passions

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daniel_a
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Funerals and Passions

Post by daniel_a » Sun Jun 07, 2020 10:46 am

I was thinking about burial and funerals in Barsaive, and if there is a Passion, and its Questors, who usually handle the burial and funeral of Namegivers. I would assume that a Namegiver who has devoted his or her life to one Passion will have it handled by that Passion's other devotees in one way or another. The funeral of a follower of Thystonius will probably be quite different from a funeral of a follower of Astendar.
But for the rest of the Namegivers? I did a serach of the words "funderal" and "burial" in the Questors book, and from those searches I got the impression that Floranuus might be the one Passion you turn to for funerals. But reading about the Passions in Player's Guide I think Garlen might be a viable choice as well. And when I thought about it a little bit more, I thought that if you consider the aspect of some sort of evaluation of your life, and where you will end up in the afterlife, Mynbruje might also be a viable option.
So, now I wonder if any of yo uhave any thought about what Passion might be the, sort of, default one to turn to for a burial rite?
The reason for this is that I will let my players find an old chapel in a ruined and forgotten burial place, and I wondered what Passion, or possibly Passions they would find statues of there.

Cheers,
Daniel

Bonhumm
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Re: Funerals and Passions

Post by Bonhumm » Sun Jun 07, 2020 12:45 pm

Passion worshiping, even for questors, if a far way from our organized religions. Furthermore, I don't remember reading anything considering beliefs in a 'Passion-proprietary afterlife'. People knows there must be something after death because, well... spirits and stuff, but from what I understand, they just believe they end up to Death (currently under the Death Sea). I don't remember reading anything either about your 'treatment' after death being related to your actions during life.

All of this is to say that I think that death/funeral would be more related to the race and/or local rituals of the deceased than whatever Passion he/she was worshiping/questoring for. This is especially due to the fact that the funeral would usually be handled by their direct family and not a bunch of fellow questors who somehow happened to be around at the right time.

Fellow worshiper/questors might very well have their own traditions/rituals to honor the passing of the dead companion but I don't think they would have any more to do/chose toward the funeral itself than, say, the members of the service organization (Lions, Kiwanis, Rotary etc.) would have in a modern funeral.

The Denizens/Namegivers of Barsaive cover death traditions/rituals for most of the races.

FrozenVomit
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Re: Funerals and Passions

Post by FrozenVomit » Mon Jun 08, 2020 12:01 am

It will not answer your questions but this is what we do in our game.

First. When someone died(PC) he will live until the end of the battle or at least long enough to say is last word. He is out of the battle. It can create nice scene; like Aragorn and Boromir when Boromir die.

Second. I never liked it when a PC die and all other player plunder the corpse. The warrior take his sword, the wizard take his magic ring, the armor will be sell and we split the money. Blah! So I decide to do it like in Dune. When Paul kill Janis. At the Jamis funeral; the closest friends of Jamis say «I was a friend of Jamis, he save my life, he was courageous and he taught me to find food in the wilderness . » Or « I was friend of Jamis, he gives me this, he was generous and he taught my sword play. » And then they take 1 item from the pile. The first to pick is the chief and the close friend of Jamis. If you are not is friend and/or you have nothing to say, you take nothing! You can take 1 item to remember the dead or something logical, NOT THE BEST ITEM!. The rest is burrow with the body. Normally the weapons stay with the dead and the money goes to the temple. It creates nice moment!

Michael
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Re: Funerals and Passions

Post by Michael » Mon Jun 08, 2020 3:24 am

actually, if I recall correctly, in the Longing Ring novel or one of the books in that series, the main char goes to the afterlife. To death's domain.

The Lore nerds would have to dig that out but there's written example of at least Death's realm

daniel_a
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Re: Funerals and Passions

Post by daniel_a » Mon Jun 08, 2020 8:02 am

Michael wrote:
Mon Jun 08, 2020 3:24 am
actually, if I recall correctly, in the Longing Ring novel or one of the books in that series, the main char goes to the afterlife. To death's domain.

The Lore nerds would have to dig that out but there's written example of at least Death's realm
Yes, and Death is sometimes described as a Passion, imprisoned by the other Passions. I doubt that Death would be the one you turn to for comfort at a funeral. To me Garlen or Mynbruje would be the more comforting and consoling Passions. Possibly Floranuus, as the Passion of Revelry and Motion. Passing on to the afterlife is the ultimate motion, perhaps. And maybe the deceased is worthy of a grand funeral parting party.

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etherial
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Re: Funerals and Passions

Post by etherial » Wed Jun 10, 2020 5:38 pm

Michael wrote:
Mon Jun 08, 2020 3:24 am
actually, if I recall correctly, in the Longing Ring novel or one of the books in that series, the main char goes to the afterlife. To death's domain.

The Lore nerds would have to dig that out but there's written example of at least Death's realm
One room in Death's Domain.

Slimcreeper
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Re: Funerals and Passions

Post by Slimcreeper » Thu Jun 11, 2020 2:33 pm

I'm drawing a blank on what they are called (half-adepts?) but I've always imagined wise elders in villages trained in the rituals surrounding death. And more businesslike undertakers in the larger settlements. They know the proper way to prepare the corpses and assure astral space is clear for the spirit's departure, as well as tending to the emotional needs of living. There is real magic in their rituals and accoutrements, though they don't have Talents per se. In 4th edition, I also imagine Nethermancers being able to use half-magic to fill this role.

utsukushi
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Re: Funerals and Passions

Post by utsukushi » Fri Jul 17, 2020 8:16 pm

I've always imagined this as a Nethermancer thing, but short of that, something that would have built up a ton of variation over the Scourge. Every kaer would have their own funerary practices which, depending on their circumstances, could range from long periods of mourning and solemn dirges, to parties celebrating the deceased's life, to just chucking the body in the recycling pool and getting on with things. One of my personal favorites - I don't know if it's canon somewhere or just something one of my GMs thought of - was a resource-strapped kaer that made everything they could out of the bones.

The only justification I could imagine for anything universal across Barsaive might be Death-as-a-Passion. I could totally see that as a unifying thing. But with Death all locked up, personally I think even that would have splintered.

But I think it was a very deliberate design element that the Passions aren't about this. Whatever they are, they're not Gods, and that was on purpose.


It is fun to think about how a place dedicated to each Passion might draw that into their rites, though.

Astendar would lead to beautiful funerals with poetry and quiet, respectful singing. Chorollis would start with settling up the deceased's debts, and then distributing their remaining value among their inheritors. Dis would put the body back to work until their family can arrange the proper fees and paperwork to retrieve it for burial (permits permitting, of course! Did you forget to file for the burial plot permits in a timely manner? Oh, dear... let me just take that corpse off your hands again while you get those in order; your home isn't zoned it, I'm afraid.) Floranuus would certainly tend to the "drunken wake" model, and see it as the last big journey. Garlen would center around the family, offering them comfort and aid while they mourn and helping them make up for the loss. Jaspree would be all about teh fertilizer, but like, in a beautiful way. Lochost might have a lovely ceremony freeing their spirit, which has some interesting implications that I really like. Mynbruje might pass judgment on how they lived their life, with the community offering a penalty or reward to their next-of-kin accordingly. Raggok would swear vengeance upon whoever or whatever caused their death. Thystonius would send them off in a flaming pyre and a toast to their glory. Upandal would build an awesome and lasting monument in their honor -- as a whole town or kaer's rite, maybe they'd have like a Name Wall or something, or a Grand Mausoleum.

...With Vestrial, of course, half the time it turns out they're not actually dead, and the other half of the time it turns out they weren't dead until people went and stuck them in that airtight box, or threw them into that huge fire... :P Fun times all around.

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